Rangers' Vladislav Gavrikov scores again, Artemi Panarin records 900th point in win over Senators

OTTAWA, Ontario — After scoring the winning goal in overtime Tuesday against the Dallas Stars, Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov said the Blueshirts are going to need all of their defensemen to step up to make up for the absence of the injured Adam Fox.

Against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, for the second straight game, the Rangers got two goals from defensemen. Gavrikov scored for the second consecutive game and Will Borgen got what proved to be the game-winner in the Blueshirts’ 4-2 win, their second straight and fifth in the last six games.

The Rangers (15-12-2) have a 12-4-1 road record, the most road wins in the league. They are 2-0 without Fox, who is on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Coming off an impressive win against Dallas, the Rangers played another strong game. They dominated play for the first two periods and carried a 3-1 lead into the third.

Then, after giving up a power-play goal by Drake Batherson that cut their lead to 3-2, the Rangers secured the victory on an empty-net goal from Artemi Panarin with 44 seconds remaining.

Panarin’s goal gave him 900 career points.

“Ottawa made a push in the third there,’’ Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. “The first half of the third period, I thought they came at us pretty good. We were on our heels. But we found a way. We dug in, we pushed back. We didn’t get rattled when they scored the power-play goal to get within one goal.”

Igor Shesterkin, who was starting his sixth consecutive game with backup Jonathan Quick still on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, made 25 saves to help preserve the lead.

Panarin, who also had an assist on Mika Zibanejad’s first-period goal, has 311 goals and 589 assists in his 11-year career. He said he was unaware that he was nearing a milestone.

“It means a lot,’’ he said. “It also means I’ve been a long time in this league. I’m happy to get that, but I’m glad we won tonight, [so] in a winning game, I have that kind of number. But to be honest, I didn’t know. On the bench, they asked for the puck . . . and I’m asking, ‘Why?’ ’’

With the team having strung two solid games back-to-back, Zibanejad was asked if he thinks the Rangers have found something in their game.

“In terms of the Dallas game, I thought that was maybe our best game at home,’’ he said. “But I think in general, I think we know the level we’re capable of . . . They’re not going to be like the Dallas game every night, but I think the foundation of our intentions were there, and they were there today as well.’’

The Rangers took an early lead after Panarin’s backhand clearing pass sent J.T. Miller and Zibanejad away on a two-on-one break. Miller passed to Zibanejad, who finished at 3:19 of the first period for his team-leading 10th goal.

Gavrikov’s goal, his third in the last four games, made it 2-0 at 9:45. The goal was his sixth of the season, tying his career high set in 2023-24 with the Kings.

Will Cuylle’s holding penalty with 2:17 left in the period put Ottawa on the power play, and the Senators cashed in with a goal by Dylan Cozens at 18:30.

But the Rangers went up 3-1 on a goal by Borgen, who took a backhand cross-ice pass from defense partner Carson Soucy at the right point and whipped a shot through traffic past goalie Leevi Merilainen at 7:24.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.